July 2013 Oklahoma Publisher

Transcription

The Oklahoma Publisher
Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association
www.OkPress.com
www.Facebook.com/okpress
INSIDE
Jeff Mayo assumes OPA presidency
NEW OWNERS: Four
Oklahoma newspapers
recently sold. Read about
the new owners and their
plans.
PAGE 4
AN OKLAHOMA
JOURNALIST TURNS
100: Vance Trimble of
Wewoka is still writing and
reading – at the age of 100.
PAGE 11
DONATE TO ONF to
receive this Will Rogers
print. Details at
OkPress.com/will-rogers.
Vol. 84, No. 7
16 Pages • July 2013
Jeff Mayo, associate publisher and general manager of
the Sequoyah County Times in
Sallisaw, became president of
the Oklahoma Press Association on July 1, 2013.
OPA members elected
Mayo at the OPA Convention
on June 13, 2013, during the
business meeting at the Reed
Center in Midwest City. Mayo,
who will serve a one-year
term, succeeds Jeff Shultz as
president of the association.
Also elected were Jeff Funk,
publisher of the Enid News &
Eagle, to serve a one-year term
as vice president, and Gloria
Trotter, co-publisher of The
Countywide & Sun, to serve
a one-year term as treasurer.
Ray Dyer, co-publisher of the
El Reno Tribune, was elected
to a three-year term as a board
member.
Other board members are
Robby Trammell, The Oklahoman; Dayva Spitzer, Sayre
Record & Beckham County
Democrat; Brian Blansett,
Shawnee News-Star; Mike
Brown, Neighbor News;
and Ted Streuli, The Journal
Record. Shultz will serve a
one-year term as past president.
Mark Thomas is executive
vice president of the association.
“I am humbled to be elected
to serve the Oklahoma Press
Association as president. It is
a great honor for my family
and me,” said Mayo, who has
served on the OPA board of
directors since 2007.
“During my term as president, I want to promote newspapers as the primary news
authority for our Oklahoma
communities. Our printed
products remain strong, and
our websites are sometimes
the only place to get the facts
of a story.”
Mayo is a third generation
newspaper publisher, and five
of the last six generations of
his family have been in the
newspaper business in Oklahoma, Arkansas and before
Indian Removal in 1835, in
Georgia.
His grandparents, the late
Wheeler and Florence Mayo,
started the Sequoyah County
Times in 1932. His father, Jim
Mayo, still holds the title of
publisher at the Times and
his mother, Becky, is business
manager.
A 1990 graduate of Sallisaw High School, Jeff Mayo
received a degree in community journalism from the University of Kansas in Lawrence
in 1994 and his Juris Doctor
from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis in 1997. Prior to passing the
Oklahoma Bar examination,
he worked as a reporter for
the Boulder Daily Camera in
Colorado.
He then went to work for
a law firm in Tulsa. In 1999,
he moved to Bellevue, Wash.,
and became a contract nego-
tiator for T-Mobile USA, but
returned to Oklahoma to work
at the family newspaper in
2003.
In Oklahoma, he and his
brother, Jack, a program manager for Microsoft, formed Big
Basin Enterprises LLC, and
purchased four weekly newspapers – the Vian Tenkiller
News, Eastern Times-Register,
Indian Journal and McIntosh
County Democrat. Jeff’s wife
Beth, is the business manager.
The National Newspaper
Association presented Mayo
with the Daniel M. Phillips
Leadership Award in 2010.
Active in the community,
Mayo has served as a member of the Sallisaw Lions Club,
coached youth league basketball, served on the board of the
Boys & Girls Club of Sequoyah
County and as president of
the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce.
He is an Eagle Scout in the
Boy Scouts of America and
currently is Cubmaster of Sallisaw Cub Scout Pack 731.
Mayo and his wife, Beth,
have two children, Madolyn,
10, and Maddox who will turn
8 on Aug. 10.
Court allows Oklahomans to sue for meeting violations
A November 2011 dismissal of an open meeting lawsuit
was overturned by the state’s
Court of Civil Appeals on June
27, allowing Oklahomans
to sue to enforce the Open
Meeting Act without having to
prove they were individually
injured by the alleged violation.
Joel Rabin and Sharon
Hurst filed suit against the
Bartlesville Redevelopment
Trust Authority in October
2010 after the BRTA held
an Aug. 21, 2011, executive
session that Hurst and Rabin
believed was improperly
entered.
The couple requested the
actions taken during the session be declared invalid and
the BRTA provide minutes of
the executive session to the
public.
The BRTA filed a motion
to dismiss, which was granted
by Associate District Judge
Russell Vaclaw on Nov. 4,
2011. He stated the two did
not have claim in their petition
to be a party affected directly
or indirectly by the actions of
the BRTA while in executive
session.
The appeals courts decision overturning Vaclaw ruled
that Hurst and Rabin have
standing because the Open
Continued on Page 3
2
The Oklahoma Publisher // July 2013
INK PIXELS
PAPER POWER
By OPA President JEFF MAYO,
Associate Publisher of the Sequoyah County Times
Ten years ago I left a corporate job
with a cell phone carrier in the Seattle
area to attend the funeral of my family’s
newspaper. I wanted to be there for
its last breath and maybe to drive the
hearse. You remember 2003, before
the iPhone, when newspapers were
“competing” with free Internet news
sites by giving away their news. We
were supposed to be out of business in
five years because “citizen journalists”
were going to give away what we were
selling.
The public at large might think we
are dead, in part because newspapers
are poor self-promoters when compared to radio and television stations.
All the while our great journalists
are covering the news and writing the
stories where people go for the facts.
We need to tell and show people that
this is the case.
Yes, I know, I know. The Internet is
different.
Our newsroom has found it provides
a wealth of news tips and easy information gathering.
I do not see the Internet as a direct
competitor, but as a conduit for the
great mankind time suck. Everyone
has always claimed to be busy, but now
it is different — they can actually look
busy.
Our fight for attention competes with
cell phones, tablets, computers, regular
television, YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Vine, Twitter
and countless websites, not to mention
any “live action” activities.
What we are really fighting is to be
relevant through compelling work. The
elements for success have not changed,
but the need to preform at a high level
is ever present.
In full disclosure, I was a free story
Internet guy. When we launched our
website in 2004, I thought it would
bring more readers to the paper by
having more information out there. Our
whole paper wasn’t online, but then
no one knew how much. I think many
people thought they were getting it all,
or maybe they were getting enough
that they didn’t think they needed the
rest. Either way it was not good.
It left the reader underserved.
We now offer five free stories per
month, and after that they must either
be a print subscriber or pay for access.
I feel the five free stories are equivalent
to the practice of cutting out an article
and mailing it to a friend or relative.
Now they can just email a link.
Since there is no funeral to attend
nor hearse to drive, one of my goals
as president is to create more awareness of the need for newspapers and
the power we still give readers in our
communities to tell their story, cover
their government and document their
history.
CONVENTION
The OPA Summer Conference was
the centerpiece of my summer life during my childhood. It was our family
vacation for many years and a bunch
of other families just happened to show
up too. Up until a few years ago I think
I still had trophies from winning swimming races at Fountainhead, Western
Hills or Texoma.
Times have changed, but I like to
call the recently concluded convention
the “Midwinter Convention in June” so
not to tread on my memories.
The OPA put on another great convention this year — focusing on newspapering itself, a turn back to the core
of our business after spending time on
digital activities.
Terry J. Kroeger, president and chief
executive officer of BH Media, a Berkshire Hathaway Company run by the
famous Warren Buffett, was a featured
speaker. While his talk was important,
the confidence injected into newspapers by Buffett’s recent purchases of
the Tulsa World and many other newspapers is wonderful. Buffett’s investing
success shows the nation we are still a
good bet.
OPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Complete Listing of Events at www.OkPress.com
THURS., AUG. 1, OSU CAMPUS, STILLWATER, OK
ONF WORKSHOP
FOCUS ON PHOTOSHOP TRAINING
Photographers, copy editors, page designers and reporters: Don’t miss the opportunity to
be trained in Photoshop. OPA computer consultant Wilma Melot will cover the latest edition
of Photoshop. Class size is limited to 20 so register early. Learn photo editing techniques
and shortcuts you can use at your publication immediately. Get hands-on training in an upto-date journalism computer lab. Registration $35. For more information or to register, go to
www.OkPress.com/events-calendar.
THURS., SEPT. 26, LOCATION TBA
ONF WORKSHOP
CIRCULATION CONFERENCE
Single copy sales, home delivery, direct mail, crews and kiosks...Newspaper circulation
professionals have their own language and set of problems. Come meet with other circulation
managers and publishers to talk shop, exchange ideas and learn from one of the best in the
business at an all-day event on circulation issues and marketing promotions. Pryor Times and
Claremore Daily Progress publisher Bailey Dabney will discuss how to reach circulation goals
along with OPA Postal Consultant John McCann. Registration $35. For more information or to
register, go to www.OkPress.com/events-calendar.
THURS., OCT. 10, LOCATION TBA
ONF WORKSHOP
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING
Social media can be a great tool to increase connections with sources, bring readers to your
website and print products, and cover breaking news. This workshop will include a number of
Web tool demonstrations and handouts that offer step-by-step instructions. Even if you don’t
know a lot about the Web, you can make a difference with social media at your community
paper. Tulsa World web editor Jason Collington directs award-winning digital media products.
Before being named web editor, he was web content coordinator and a feature writer. He also
teaches web and social media classes for the School of Media and Strategic Communication
at OSU. Registration $35. For more information or to register, go to www.OkPress.com/eventscalendar.
For more information on upcoming events,
visit the OPA website at www.OkPress.com or contact Member Services Director Lisa Potts
at (405) 499-0026, 1-888-815-2672 or email [email protected].
New editor at Stigler News-Sentinel
Wendy Smith has been named editor of the Stigler News-Sentinel and the
Country Star.
Smith, who was previously sports
editor at the newspapers, will continue
her role in the sports section.
“My goal is to have all local news
covered in the paper,” she said. “There
are a lot of good people and good
things happening in this community
that deserves to be in the news.”
Linus Williams Jr., assistant publisher of the News-Sentinel, said he wasn’t
surprised when Smith approached him
about the editor position.
“She is a perfect fit and one of the
most dedicated writers we have had at
the Stigler News-Sentinel and Country
Star. Her coverage of local sports over
the past few years has been excellent
and I have no doubt that she will take
the same approach to all aspects of our
news coverage,” Williams said.
With Smith taking over the editor
position, Williams plans to bring in a
new reporter to increase the paper’s
area news coverage.
“There is a lot going on in Stigler
and the surrounding communities and
we are hopeful that by adding more
reporters we will improve our coverage,” said Williams.
Trial date set for Pardon and Parole Board members
A judge has set a date for a jury trial
in the matter of alleged open meetings
violations by the five members of Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board. The
trial is set for Nov. 18.
The board members are accused of
failing to properly inform the public of
names of people who were being considered for early release by the board.
Earlier this year, Prater issued an
ultimatum to the five board members,
resign or face charges for violation of
the Open Meeting Act. After failing to
accept the terms of Prater’s ultimatum,
four of the five members of the board
were charged with 10 misdemeanors
while one member was charged with
nine.
All five members of the board turned
themselves in on March 14, 2013, and
were subsequently released on $5,000
bail each.
The Parole Board members all
denied they knowingly or willfully violated the law. Through their attorneys
the members have claimed that Prat-
er’s actions are the result of a vindictive
agenda.
Prater claims the board acted in
a way “designed to hide potentially
unpopular actions.”
The Parole Board’s defense attorneys are requesting that a special judge
dismiss the case because of vindictive
prosecution or disqualify Prater from
prosecuting the case.
Both motions were filed June 10th.
Prater is contesting both requests.
Court decision
New motions filed in university suit
Continued from Page 1
New motions were filed in late
June in a case involving a lawsuit filed
against the University of Oklahoma
in May, according to plaintiff Joey
Stipek.
Stipek is a former online editor
at The Oklahoma Daily and is also a
Film and Media studies senior at the
school.
He filed the lawsuit after the university repeatedly refused to release student parking citation information to
him and other employees at The Daily.
Stipek states that in recent years,
reporters at other student papers
around the country have requested
campus parking citations under their
state’s Open Records laws after receiving tips that athletes were receiving
special treatment.
Stipek was attempting to research
a similar story when he was denied
access to the records.
The new motions Stipek filed
Meeting Act was created for the purpose “of governmental transparency
by ensuring governmental bodies hold
meetings that are open to the public.”
“An executive session, by definition,
is closed to the public. Rabin-Hurst
have a personal interest, indeed a right,
as members of the public and residents
of Oklahoma, to attend and know the
content of a public meeting,” court
documents state.
“If BRTA improperly held an executive session, the right of Rabin-Hurst
has been violated, thus thereby conferring standing to invoke judicial process
to enforce that right.”
The couple say they thought this
was an important decision that provided clarification, because the BRTA
was claiming the only way to go after a
public body to make them uphold the
Open Meeting and Open Records Acts
was by filing a criminal complaint.
“And if the district attorney, who
typically won’t prosecute these types of
crimes, won’t do anything about it, then
what recourse does a citizen have?”
Hurst said.
The case has been remanded to trial
court.
Muskogee publisher
moving to West Virginia
Randy Mooney, who has served as
publisher at the Muskogee Phoenix
for nearly three years, has been named
publisher of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. The paper is located in his home
state of West Virginia.
Both the Daily Telegraph and the
Phoenix are owned by Community
Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
included a response to the defendants’
motion to dismiss and a motion for
summary judgment. Stipek is requesting the court deny the defendants’
motion to dismiss.
The lawsuit was filed specifically
against David Boren, president of OU,
and Rachel McCombs, director of the
Open Records Office at OU.
Stipek was originally told the
records were protected by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA.)
Since the parking records are
directly related to a student and maintained by the university, OU said they
cannot be disclosed under FERPA.
OU officials said they have provided and will continue to provide
information related to any non-student
ticket recipient including faculty and
staff and university guests to whom
FERPA does not apply.
The
Oklahoma
Publisher
ISSN 1526-811X
Official Publication of the
Oklahoma Press Association
PUBLISHER
Mark Thomas
[email protected]
EDITOR
Jennifer Gilliland
[email protected]
OPA OFFICERS
Jeff Mayo, President
Sequoyah County Times
Jeff Funk, Vice President
Enid News & Eagle
Gloria Trotter, Treasurer
The Countywide & Sun
Mark Thomas,
Executive Vice President,
Oklahoma City
OPA DIRECTORS
Jeff Shultz, Past President
The Garvin County News Star
Robby Trammell, The Oklahoman
Dayva Spitzer, Sayre Record &
Beckham County Democrat
Brian Blansett, Shawnee News-Star
Mike Brown, Neighbor News
Ted Streuli, The Journal Record
Ray Dyer, El Reno Tribune
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3
4
Four state newspapers under new ownership
Four Oklahoma newspapers were
announced to have new owners this
month.
Paul and Maria Laubach of Okeene
purchased The Okeene Record, The
Canton Times and The Dewey County
Record in Seiling from Mack and Connie Miller.
The Comanche County Chronicle in
Elgin, published by Randy and Cheryl
Smith since 2011, sold to Oak Tree
Media Inc., owned by John Hruby.
Hruby is also publisher of The Marlow
Review
Dr. Maria Laubach will serve as
manager of Trail Miller Co., LLC, a
newly formed subsidiary company of
the Laubach family’s other business
holdings in oil and gas investments and
farm and ranch operations in 13 western Oklahoma counties.
She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy
in Education and a Master of Arts in
German from the University of Oklahoma. She also earned a Bachelor of
Arts in Pedagogy from Saratov State
University in Russia.
“I am really exited and look forward
to working with Mack and all of the
staff at the papers,” said Laubach. “The
free press in this country is one of
the most important pillars of American
democracy and to be able to be a part
of that is going to be a very humbling
responsibility,” she said.
“On behalf of the newspapers in all
three communities of Seiling, Canton
and Okeene we promise to do our best
to report the news and happenings
of each community and to be a good
Tinker and John Hruby are the new owners of The Comanche County
Chronicle in Elgin. The Hrubys also own the Marlow Review. The
Laubach family, right, recently purchased Mack Miller’s three weekly
newspapers –The Okeene Record, The Canton Times and The Dewey
County Record. Paul and Maria Laubach have two children, Alex, 5, and
Sophia, 1.
business citizen in each community as
well,” said Laubach. “We also sincerely
hope that our readers will participate in
that process by sharing their views and
providing us with their feedback on the
papers,” she said.
Dr. Laubach is married to Paul
Wayne Laubach and they have two children. They reside in Okeene.
Mack Miller will remain at the three
papers as editor.
The Commanche County Chronicle
NEWSPAPER BROKERS, APPRAISERS, CONSULTANTS
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THOMAS C. BOLITHO
P.O. Box 849, Ada, OK 74821
(580) 421-9600 • [email protected]
EDWARD M. ANDERSON
P.O. Box 2001, Branson, MO 65616
(417) 336-3457 • [email protected]
NATIONAL EDIA
A SSOC IATES
www.nationalmediasales.com
will become the second paper owned
by Oak Tree Media, Inc.
“This portion of Comanche County
has so much potential and The Chronicle has such a great future, I couldn’t
pass up the offer Randy and his wife
made,” said Hruby. “This publication is
very similar to Marlow in that both are
serving three communities.
““I grew up in the newspaper industry and look forward to meeting everyone in the community, reporting on
those things important to the community and making a difference.”
Hruby is a third-generation publisher. His grandfather, Harrington Wimberly, bought the Altus Times-Democrat in 1940 and in 1964 purchased
The Duncan Banner. He was publisher
until his death in 1976. Hruby’s father,
Al, joined The Banner in 1965 and
took over as publisher after his father’s
death. John took over as publisher of
The Banner in 1997, leaving after a year
to pursue other opportunities. In 2007,
he purchased The Marlow Review.
Hruby and his wife, Tinker, who
assists in the newspaper’s operation,
have two children – Katherine and
Alan.
“I want to produce a publication that
serves the community, the advertisers
and the readers,” said Hruby. “I am
very excited about what we can accomplish.”
New sports editor at Clinton News
Derek Dueker is the new sports editor at the Clinton Daily News.
He and his family moved to Clinton
from Buffalo, Mo.
“We are excited to have Derek on
our staff,” said CDN Publisher Rod Serfoss. “His writing skills and personal
maturity far exceed many recent journalism school graduates. We believe
he is a great asset to the Clinton Daily
News and the community.”
Dueker is a graduate of Missouri
State University in Springfield.
He has experience in both print and
broadcast journalism and is excited to
get to know more about Clinton.
“Football is a true passion of mine
and to report in a town that has a football team with 16 state titles is not only
exciting, but an honor,” Dueker said.
ONF internships give students
hands-on newspaper experience
This summer, college journalism
students will work around the state
through the Oklahoma Newspaper
Foundation internship program.
The internship program, which is
made possible by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, promotes working at Oklahoma
newspapers and helps student journalists start their careers.
The 2013 program had 36 student
applicants. Participating newspapers
went through dozens of resumes to
choose the students below.
James Tillison, a junior and reporter
at Simpson College in Indiana, worked
in reporting and layout at the Cougar
Call, the Ada High school newspaper.
He’ll use those skills this summer at
the Ada News.
Sally Asher, an Oklahoma State University junior, will be The Bigheart
Times’ intern. Asher is managing editor for The O’Collegian, the campus
newspaper.
The Chickasha Express-Star chose
Jacob McGuire, a junior at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
McGuire covers sports at The Trend,
USAO’s student newspaper.
Jackie Dobson is spending her summer at The Cleveland American. Dobson, an OSU sports media sophomore,
is photo editor for The O’Collegian.
Cushing Citizen will bring in Lori
Prahl, an OSU public relations junior.
Prahl will work in advertising with publisher David Reid.
Murphy Mitchell, a staff reporter at
The O’Collegian since 2011, is a multimedia journalism sophomore. This
summer he’ll cover general assignments for the Drumright Gusher.
Julie Bragg, a University of Central
Oklahoma photography graduate, will
shoot news for The Edmond Sun.
Katie Kastl, a UCO senior, will join
the El Reno Tribune staff full time for
the summer. Kastl is a public relations
major.
The Elk City Daily News chose Kristen Waldron, a political science graduate from Southeastern Oklahoma State
University, to join the staff for the summer. Waldron was a staff writer and
photographer at The Southeastern.
Missouri junior Jessica Salmond will
intern at the Enid News & Eagle. Salmond is a photographer at the Columbia Missourian.
The Journal Record hired Catherine
Sweeney, an OSU junior. Sweeney is a
staff writer at The O’Collegian and has
covered city council.
Allison Haddican, an OSU multimedia sophomore, will intern at The
Marlow Review. Haddican interned at
OKC Friday last year.
Christian Favalora, an OSU junior, is
interning at The Miami News-Record.
Favalora covers sports and general
news for The O’Collegian.
Arianna Prickard, a University of
Oklahoma sophomore studying online
journalism, will write for The Norman
Transcript. Prickard is campus editor
of The Oklahoma Daily.
Dillon Phillips, an OU junior, has the
summer set with OKC Friday. Phillips
is sports editor for The Oklahoma Daily
and works with KWTV-9 as a student
mobile journalist.
The Oklahoman chose a junior at
Oral Roberts University, Hannah Covington. Covington is a double-major in
English literature and Spanish, and still
finds time to be managing editor of The
Oracle.
The Sand Springs Leader gets some
help this summer from Justin Gordon, a sports media junior at OSU.
Gordon works on O-State TV and The
O’Collegian sports section.
Madi Alexander, an Oklahoma City
Unversity junior, will intern at The
Shawnee News-Star. Alexander is a
mass communications and political science double major. Alexander, who has
also been The Journal Record’s Legislative Report intern, recently studied
abroad in Qatar and is the OCU student
publications web editor.
Merrick Eagleton, an OSU sophomore, will have a short commute to
her summer internship at the Stillwater
NewsPress. She has been sports news
clerk for the NewsPress and the public
relations officer for Army Blades.
The Tulsa World’s intern, Samantha
Vicent, a junior at OSU, interned at the
Drumright Gusher last year. Vicent has
covered crime and courts since 2011.
2013 ONF INTERNS
MADI ALEXANDER,
The Shawnee News-Star
SALLY ASHER,
The Bigheart Times (Barnsdall)
JULIE BRAGG, The Edmond Sun
HANNAH COVINGTON,
The Oklahoman
JACKIE DOBSON,
The Cleveland American
MERRICK EAGLETON,
Stillwater NewsPress
CHRISTIAN FAVALORA,
The Miami News-Record
JUSTIN GORDON,
Sand Springs Leader
ALLISON HADDICAN,
The Marlow Review
KATIE KASTL, El Reno Tribune
JACOB McGUIRE,
The Chickasha Express-Star
MURPHY MITCHELL,
Drumright Gusher
DILLON PHILLIPS, OKC Friday
LORI PRAHL, Cushing Citizen
ARIANNA PRICKARD,
The Norman Transcript
JESSICA SALMOND,
Enid News & Eagle
CATHERINE SWEENEY,
The Journal Record
JAMES TILLISON, Ada News
SAMANTHA VICENT, Tulsa World
KRISTEN WALDRON,
The Elk City Daily News
5
New employee at
Watonga Republican
Rhonda Horton has joined the
Watonga Republican staff as news
coordinator. She is taking over for
39-year employee Darrell Rice, who
is retiring.
Horton has lived all around the
state of Oklahoma working in various industries from farming and
ranching to auto sales.
For the past five years, she has
run a commercial photography business specializing in outdoor subjects
with an emphasis on livestock and
farm-ranch people. She also hosts an
Internet radio show, westernwomenradio.com.
Even though this is Horton’s first
newspaper job, she is excited about
working with a media that is new to
her.
“When you go to the coffee shop,
people talk about what’s in the newspaper,” said Horton. “The newspaper is read and discussed. That’s my
purpose.”
New employee at
Watonga Republican
Sulphur native Whitt Carter has
joined The Ardmoreite as a sports
reporter.
Carter is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma where he
worked for UCO’s student newspaper, The Vista.
He has experience covering high
school and college sports as well as
recruiting through Rivals.com.
“I’m anxious to work with the outstanding staff of The Ardmoreite,”
said Carter. “I’m eager to watch and
cover local coaches and athletes, as
they grow through successes over
this upcoming athletic year.”
6
SHORT TALKS, BIG IDEAS
NewsFlash idea exchange popular session at convention
Bolstered only by a slideshow and
determination, eight presenters shared
their ideas during News Flash at the
OPA Convention on June 14 at the Reed
Center in Midwest City.
Each presenter was given eight minutes to pitch their idea to the audience
– or face the dreaded gong that would
end their session. Not once during
NewsFlash did the gong sound the
death toll.
NewsFlash was sponsored by TownNews.com, which gave away an Apple
iPad to one of the NewsFlash presenters. Chris Rush, publisher of the
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, was
the winner of the iPad.
JOURNALISTS MUST ADAPT
TO NEW TECHNOLOGY
Dave Rhea, managing editor at The
Journal Record in Oklahoma City, was
first to take the stage with a presentation titled “How to monetize for human
capital.” If you didn’t quite catch the
meaning of that, it’s basically “Tell a
story, sell a story.”
“We wake up in the morning, lace
up our boots, go the idea factory and
put together these stories that literally
change the world,” Rhea said.
The challenge for journalists is
adapting to new technology and being
able to deliver the story in print, video
or audio.
“You need to increase your ability to
deliver information in ways people want
to receive it,” he said. “The modern
journalist is versatile and with versatility comes money.”
CAMERAS FLY HIGH
WITH PHANTOM II
The focus was on cameras during
Lynn Martin’s presentation, which
included digital cameras, low-cost aerial photography and a high-definition
video dashcam.
Martin, publisher of the Alva
Review-Courier and owner of a photography studio, often sets his professional
equipment aside and shoots with the
Sony RX 100. The pocketsize camera
features the German Carl Zeiss lens.
Although this camera doesn’t have an
optical viewfinder, Martin has found a
way to combat that shortcoming with
a three-inch pop-up shade from Delkin
for $8.95. Now when the light is too
bright for LCD viewing, Martin pops up
the shade and continues shooting.
“There’s no shutter lag,” he said.
“It’s faster than my Canon 5DII or EOS
1DS II.”
Another feature of the Sony is its
ability to automatically stitch 24 frames
together.
However, the scene-stealer during
Martin’s session was the DJI Phantom II, a helicopter-type device with
a camera attached making aerial photography possible without a plane. The
Phantom holds a GoPro Hero 3 camera
capable of shooting high-end video. To
demonstrate its abilities, Martin played
a video of him flying the Phantom on
the courthouse lawn in front of the
newspaper office in Alva.
“I got it so high I lost it in the
sky,” Martin said. “But if you turn off
the remote control it will automatically
come back to where it started.”
Martin also showed a video of a
dashboard camera that retails for $115.
PROFITS IN
MAGAZINE PUBLISHING
Chris Rush, publisher of the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, presented
“Magazine Publishing for Fun and Profit!” during his eight minutes.
“I’ve become convinced even a small
weekly newspaper can publish at least
an annual magazine and it’s profitable,”
Rush said.
Magazines, Rush said, are popular with readers and advertisers and
add prestige to the newspaper. Plus,
newspapers already have the needed
resources to produce a magazine.
To get started, determine the type
of magazine that will hook readers and
interest advertisers, he said.
“Tourism is obvious,” said Rush, who
also mentioned back-to-school, business and medical as possible themes.
“In small communities, everyone has a
signature event to hook around. Think
of the biggest event of the year in your
community and sell your magazine
around that.”
Rush uses multiple delivery options
to distribute Bartlesville Magazine. In
addition to rack-and-stack, newspaper
subscribers receive the magazine at no
extra charge.
Rush has found a winning formula
for publishing magazines that includes
well-written feature-style stories about
local people, places and events; ample
graphics and photography; and attractive page layout and design.
“Every single issue of our magazine
from the very start has had a 40 percent profit margin,” he said.
HOLIDAY RECIPE CONTEST
AND SPECIAL SECTION
If you have readers who like to cook
and eat during the holidays, get them
involved with a Best Recipe contest and
special section.
Faith Wylie, co-publisher of the
Oologah Lake Leader, has found
Continued on Page 7
Fun photos from the slide show: The modern journalist is versatile from Dave Rhea’s segment; Lynn Martin demonstrated how to capture low-cost aerial photography using the Phantom
helicopter; Faith Wylie cashed in on her readers love of cooking and eating with a Best Recipe section; Chris Rush says he’s making money with the Bartlesville magazine and
described how you start your own magazine.
Big ideas Continued from Page 6
great success with this idea that was
launched two years ago with two goals
in mind – revenue and reader involvement. It has met and exceeded those
goals, she said.
Wylie promoted the section to advertisers by printing a flyer on the back
of billing inserts, along with extras for
the sales staff to take out. Information
also was available on the newspaper’s
website.
“We wanted to involve readers every
step of the way so we used all three
of our products – print, website and
Facebook,” said Wylie. Readers were
invited to submit recipes online on
in person during a two-week call for
entries period.
After the entry deadline, a poll was
placed on the newspaper’s website
allowing readers to vote for their favorite recipes. The top three finalists in
each of four categories – appetizers,
main course, dessert and diabetic –
were advanced to a taste-off.
“We have volunteer cooks make the
recipes instead of the person who submitted the recipe,” said Wylie. The
cooks bring the completed dishes to
the Wylies’ home in Oologah for a
taste-off. As the food arrives, photos
are taken for use in the special section.
“Then we ate,” Wylie said. “Everyone ranks the recipes in each category
as first, second and third and writes
comments. At the end of the evening
we tally the results.”
Winners were announced in the special section along with the recipe and
photo of the person who submitted it.
“Readers loved it and there was a lot
of conservation about it,” Wylie said. “It
turned out to be a great project.”
PERSONAL COLUMNS CATCH
ATTENTION OF READERS
Three years ago Brian Blansett was
looking for new ways to improve The
Shawnee News-Star.
“I thought the paper needed some
personality,” said Blansett, who is publisher of the daily newspaper. “So I
decided to do something newspapers
did 100 years ago – page one columns.”
Since the idea was implemented,
every issue of the News-Star has a
locally written staff column on page
one. The column appears in the same
spot every day and is one of the paper’s
most popular items, according to Blansett.
Blansett picked six staff members
to each write on a specific day and
gave them brief instructions: “Make
conversations with the readers. Write
145 words. Don’t write about politics or
religion. Anything else is okay.”
The columns never jump and Blansett never edits them. “I read them the
next morning just like everybody else
does. Sometimes what they write is
a surprise. Sometimes I think they’re
pushing the envelope a little bit but
it’s a personal connection you can’t get
any other way. You’d be surprised what
people connect with.”
Blansett cautioned others considering page-one columns to not make it a
newsroom thing. “If you do, you’ll end
up with news columns instead of personal columns.”
STORY COVERAGE
FROM ALL ANGLES
James Bright, editor of the Chickasha Express-Star, presented “Effectively and efficiently covering a story for
all platforms” during his eight-minute
segment.
Raised on Internet convergence,
Bright is always looking for ways to
incorporate video and audio into his
work.
Although you might think you need
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7
expensive equipment, Bright said a
small point-and-shoot camera with 720p
capability, such as the Canon PowerShot, is all you need.
“The most important thing is to
check the audio quality so you can
record interviews using the camera
instead of a sound recorder,” Bright
said.
His tips for interviewing include
planning the graphical element for both
video and still images prior to starting;
preparing your subject and shooting 10
seconds of throw away imagery; and
conducting the interview as you normally would while recording the subject. Finish the interview by shooting
still images for print or supplemental
online material.
Bright uses iMovie for 90-second
supplemental videos. For the editing
process he advises minimizing the use
of transitions; using detached audio and
text boxes to add professionalism; and
fading the last scene to black with a still
image reflecting your publication.
Once the video is completed, tease
it in the newspaper article to draw web
traffic.
“It’s very simple,” Bright said. “Four
hours from conception to interview
editing – half a day to supplement your
print product with your website.”
TOWN NEWS’ SOLUTION:
BLOX CMS
Gary Sosniecki, regional sales manager for TownNews.com, wrapped up
the session by talking about the company and its product, Blox CMS. For
more information about Blox CMS,
visit TownNews.com.
Brian Blansett finds success in page one
personal columns; James Bright showed
how to converge one story in print
and video; Gary Sosniecki talks about
TownNews’ CMS product.
N W
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OKPANOW2013
8
THE OGE PHOTO CONTEST
APRIL 2013 DAILY WINNER:
JOSH
NEWTON
Tahlequah Daily Press
APRIL 2013 WEEKLY
WINNER:
MELISSA
GRACE
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Deputy Calen Cobb talks with one of
two young children found inside a home that appeared to be
littered with feces.
The Ringling Eagle
Emergency workers pull Wilma Chastain from a collapsed
building off of 4th Street and Interstate 35 after a tornado
ripped through Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013.
MAY 2013 DAILY WINNER:
Photo by KYLE PHILLIPS,The Norman Transcript, May 21, 2013
Photo by JOSH NEWTON,Tahlequah Daily Press, April 24, 2013
KYLE
PHILLIPS
The Norman Transcript
MAY 2013 WEEKLY WINNER:
KELLY
BROWN
Choctaw Times
Ringling volunteer firemen show how they work to free
individuals trapped in a car using the Hurst Tool to cut the car
to allow the roof to be pulled back. The mock accident depicted
a drunk driver in one car, a car load of kids in second car and
one student who was ejected and ‘died at the scene.’
Enter and Win a $100 Check
from OGE Energy Corp.
Firemen from all over the state work together to improve
advanced vehicle extraction skills. Firemen cut open a school
bus with hydraulic tools to extract patients in a school bus
wreck simulation.
View contest rules and all
winning photos at
Photo by KELLY BROWN, Choctaw Times, May 8, 2013
www.OkPress.com/OGE-Photo-Contest
Photo by MELISSA GRACE,The Ringling Eagle, April 18, 2013
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2013 AP Stylebook Jeopardy Grand Champions
Tulsa World editorial writers retire
Tulsa World editorial pages editor
David Averill and associate editor Janet
Pearson announced their retirements
on June 7.
Both have worked at the World for
more than 40 years.
Averill started at the World in 1969
while still a student at the University
of Tulsa. Pearson followed a few years
later, also while still a TU student.
World Publisher Bill Masterson said
their retirements are “a huge loss for
the Tulsa World.”
Averill and Pearson have opined and
covered practically every major issue in
the state over the last 40 years.
Averill covered the integration of
Tulsa schools and was later assigned
to the state Capitol for five years. In
1985, he joined the editorial board and
became editorial pages editor in 2007.
He is proudest of the World’s editorial campaign to “do something about
Dr. Lisa L. Rollins’ summer journalism lab students at the University of Oklahoma
are the Journalism Mass Communication (JMC) 2033 Summer 2013 AP Stylebook
Jeopardy Grand Champions. Students in the class first compete in three Jeopardy
rounds in their lab sections. Scores are totaled until each lab crowns a champion
team. The lab champions then compete during lecture in semifinal and final rounds.
The students, who were enrolled in Rollins’ JMC 2033 lab, competed against other
OU journalism majors to win the title on June 26. Tree top, from left, Matthew Purcival,
Amy Robinson and Ashley Stephens. Ground level, from left, Ryan Barrett, Wes
Moody, Clay Tucker, William Sibley and Ryan Mellinger.
Barrett, Moody and Tucker answered the final AP question that won their team the
championship.
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LEGAL SERVICES PLAN
1-888-815-2672 or 405-499-0020
9
Tar Creek,” an environment wasteland
in far northeastern Oklahoma.
Averill leaves the World as the longest continuously employed newsroom
employee.
Pearson covered Tulsa City Hall in
the early 1980s as well as social services and medical beats. The largest
scoop of her career was confirmation
that evangelist Oral Roberts planned to
build a hospital called the City of Faith.
Her editorials focused mostly on
transportation and social issues, the
latter sometimes putting her at odds
with prominent political leaders and
some Tulsa World readers. Her time
covering health care and poverty early
in her career gave her “a sense of the
struggle people less fortunate than we
are going through.”
Pearson became an editorial writer
in 1994 and associate editor in 2007.
10
PLAYER PROFILE
NAME:
DAVID COMPTON,
Publisher, Tahlequah Daily Press
EDUCATION: Vincennes University (Vincennes, Indiana)
SPOUSE/CHILDREN: Brianne (wife);
two boys, Noah and William
NEWSPAPER BACKGROUND:
04/96 – 04/02 Washington Times-Herald (Washington,
Ind.) (Donrey Media, CNHI) - Director of Advertising
04/02 – 04/04 Leader Publications (Niles, Mich.)
(Boone Newspapers) – Vice-President
Q: What’s something most people don’t
know about you?
A: I always try to put forward a calm,
calculating optimistic front, but I get
just as frustrated as the next person.
I guess I just channel that inward and
come up with plans for changing the
things I don’t like.
Q: What’s the most unusual/best/
remarkable part of your job?
A: Getting to develop and lead a team will
always gets my heart pumping.
Q: What civic activities are you involved
in?
A: In the past, I’ve always been involved
with local chambers, civic groups such
as Rotary and charity organizations like
United Way. While I’m relatively new
to Tahlequah, I can’t wait to get more
involved.
Q: Who’s had the biggest influence on
your career?
A: My father. He passed when I was
young, but not before teaching me
about the value of hard work and
dedication. Through his actions he
illustrated that you had to work hard
for anything you wanted in life. He was
by definition a workaholic and now I
find myself searching for that balance
between work and family. I still find
myself trying to make him proud that I
am a Compton.
Q: What would you describe as the three
most important responsibilities of your
job?
A: Nowadays the local newspaper has a
deeper responsibility to the community.
We have to be the watchdog while
teaching new ways for people to
communicate. We have to be at the
head of the class when it comes to
pushing Twitter, Facebook and other
forms of social media. It not only builds
our brand and protects our future, it
solidifies us as the community pioneer
for communication.
Q: What about newspaper publishing gets
you out of bed in the morning?
A: I tell people all the time that this is a
great time to be in the industry. It is
exciting to come up with new ideas
(or copy someone else’s “new ideas”)
and put them into action. It can be a
new magazine or subscriber product.
It can be print or digital. However, it is
always fun to offer something new and
innovative to customers, readers and
the community.
What makes you want to stay in bed?
I’m addicted to reruns of American
Pickers and it keeps me up too late.
Q: What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve
overcome in your career?
A: I’ve been blessed with loads of
opportunities and have tried to make
the most out of them. I was able to
become the youngest advertising
director with Donrey Media Group,
one of the youngest AD’s with CNHI
back in the ’90s, the youngest VP with
Boone Newspapers, the youngest
group publisher with JRC and the
04/04 – 08/05 Commonwealth Journal (Somerset, Ken.)
(CNHI) – Regional Director of Advertising
08/05 – 06/07 Shoreline Publications (Guilford, Conn.)
(Journal Register Company) – Regional Publisher
06/07 – 08/12 The Daily Advocate (Greenville, Ohio)
(Brown Newspapers, OCM) – Regional Publisher
02/13 – present Tahlequah Daily Press (Tahlequah, Okla.)
(CNHI) - Publisher
Each month, The Publisher will profile a newspaper executive in this space.
Learn more about your peers from all corners of the state. To request the
questionnaire for your Player Profile, email [email protected].
youngest group publisher with Brown
Newspapers. Now I’m back with CNHI
and just trying to not become too old –
too fast. Because I’m too old now to be
the youngest anything.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: Professionally – I’ve been able to lead
many award winning teams during
my career and I’m proud of all of
them. In 2011, I was named Darke
County (Ohio) Professional of the Year.
Obviously, it was a time when the local
newspaper really had to shine in order
to draw new customers and readership.
I’m proud of my team’s efforts on
those fronts and what we were able to
accomplish. It was an awesome feeling
to have the team recognized with not
only that award but several awards for
best website and newspaper.
Personally, my family of course. I don’t
smoke and am just an occasional
drinker, but still I was diagnosed with
stage IV throat cancer in the summer of
2011. It was a trying time for my family.
After surgery and treatment, I will have
been cancer free for two years come
August. It taught me a lot about myself
and the type of people I had around
me. I sometimes wonder how we made
it through everything. I seriously don’t
know what I would have done without
my beautiful wife. I’m just glad to be
alive, back in the media business and
am ready to make a difference in it.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I used to play tons of basketball. It was
more like an addiction than a hobby.
Now I enjoy going to the movies and
just hanging out with my family. My
wife and I also started fostering several
years ago. We really enjoy expanding
the scope of our family. I had a
difficult childhood and just always
wanted to help children in challenging
circumstances reach for a brighter
future.
Q: Does your newspaper have a website?
A: Our website, tahlequahdailypress.
com, offers readers the chance to try
our coverage of Cherokee County with
a sampling of some of the stories we
produce. We then encourage them to
subscribe to our print edition for more
in-depth coverage. The site has won
several awards including the 2012
best website award by Associated
Press (OK). We will be expanding even
further with digital coverage in the near
future
Q: What challenges are facing your
newspaper today and in the future?
A: I believe you have to always be
evolving in order to remain relevant.
Those that don’t change will soon
disappear. Lots of people in the
industry will try to get you to believe our
need for change surpasses every other
type of business. However, almost
every business has had to deal with
massive change over the past several
years. The Tahlequah newspaper is
no different. In order for us to remain
the face of news communication and
marketing in Cherokee County we will
need to seize value in both the print
and digital worlds moving forward. That
means a staff trained and focused on
providing total coverage…24/7/365 in a
variety of formats.
11
Vance Trimble celebrates 100th birthday
BY KAREN ANSON,
Senior Editor of The Seminole Producer
(Reprinted with permission)
T
here is a 100-year-old golden treasure chest
hidden in Wewoka and when it’s opened, gems
spill out.
The treasure is Vance Trimble, who celebrated his
100th birthday on July 6.
The gold is his Pulitzer Prize, awarded in 1960 in
the distinguished reporting of national affairs.
He is truly hidden away – you won’t find his name
in state museums focusing on Oklahoma’s history.
But spend a few minutes with Trimble and hear
sparkling gems of wisdom and wit spill forth.
He can talk on any subject because, even at 100, he
is very well read.
In fact he’s read 400 books in the last three years.
Most notably he talks about the writing profession
where he has spent his life.
Names of good writers, titles of good books flow
without his having to think about them or try to
remember.
Many of the books he talks about he can find somewhere in his well-appointed home, where the walls
are covered in the paintings of his beloved wife, gone
these 14 years.
He hasn’t driven in awhile, but he was writing
books and learning the new ways of sharing them –
ebooks, self publishing – even in these last few years.
Talking with Trimble is nothing like the interviews
with 100-year-olds that most reporters encounter.
In fact an OSU historian, coming to discuss longevity, is in for a treat.
How to live long? “Stay in love,” he says, and he
has.
Trimble was born July 6, 1913, in Harrison, Ark.
His father, Guy L. Trimble, was a lawyer and the
town’s mayor. His mother, Josie, was a poet and writer, directing plays at the Crystal Theater in Okemah,
where the family moved in 1920.
At 14, Trimble was hired as a cub reporter at the
Okemah Daily Leader, working after school at $1.50
a week.
That job launched his lifelong career, which took
him to national journalism heights and later to book
writing.
His book, “Sam Walton,” sold 700,000 copies.
Trimble’s first assignment in 1927 was walking
up and down Broadway in Okemah looking in every
store for news items.
He learned to write and “embellish” the telegraph
news and lay out pages.
His first page one byline story came after spending
the night in the Fort Smith & Western railway depot,
“footsore and weary,” and interviewing the station
agent.
The family moved to Wewoka while Trimble was
a freshman and he continued his career as a court-
house reporter and sports editor at the Wewoka
Times-Democrat while finishing high school.
Working on the school paper, The Little Tiger, he
met the love of his life, Elzene Miller.
“When Elzene sold an ad for 50 cents or a dollar,
we would confiscate a nickel, hurry to the downtown
drugstore, slide into a back booth near the phonograph, and with two straws, split a Coke and plan our
future,” Trimble said.
They married at age 18; the $10 wedding ring
stayed on Elzene’s hand through the swelling of pregnancy and the wasting of death.
When they married, Elzene worked at a florist for
$7 a week and Trimble bad just been named night editor of the Seminole paper for $20 a week.
Two weeks after their Jan. 9 wedding, the previous
night editor sobered up and begged for his job back,
ousting young Trimble.
With the Great Depression drying up newspaper
jobs, the Trimbles spent a year and a half driving a
$35 beat-up 1926 Chevy from Florida to Colorado,
eking out a living by repairing typewriters and adding
machines.
They then returned to Oklahoma and Trimble
resumed his newspaper career at The Seminole Morning News, Seminole Producer, Muskogee Phoenix,
Okmulgee Times and Maud Enterprise where he
investigated a robbery by Pretty Boy Floyd and interviewed the famous robber’s wife.
At the Tulsa Tribune, Trimble was fired for joining
the writers’ union.
He had advanced from reporter to city editor, telegraph editor and managing editor.
The Trimbles then moved to Texas, where he
worked for dailies in Beaumont, Port Arthur and
Houston.
Their daughter, Carol Ann Nordeheimer, was born
in Port Arthur. She lives now in Wilmington, Del.,
where she is a consultant in the fields of marketing,
politics and communications.
During World War II, Trimble was a Signal Corps
staff sergeant and edited the Army newspaper in
Camp Beale, Calif.
In 1955, Vance was promoted to the Scripps Howard national bureau in Washington, D.C. He was an
editor and covered Congress and the White House.
They were entertained by the Kennedys, the Johnsons and the Nixons.
Elzene wowed Washington with her Southern
accent and her Jeff Davis pie.
After daily deadline pressure, Trimble said he
found his new job to be “slow” and began to haunt the
halls of the Capitol.
He became curious about Capitol nepotism and
payroll abuse and spent six months researching his
story before breaking the scandal in January 1959.
After six months of daily stories in the Scripps
Howard papers from coast to coast, a grass roots
Pulitzer-prize winner Vance Trimble celebrated his 100th
birthday on July 6. Trimble lives in Wewoka, Okla.
Photo, by Jacklyn Photography of Wewoka, reprinted with permission
anger caused the Senate to open payroll records for
the first time in 32 years.
A Page 1 story in the Washington Daily News
hailed this as “A Victory for the Taxpayers and Vance
Trimble.”
That work earned Trimble his rare journalism Triple Crown: the Pulitzer, the Raymond Clapper Award
and the Sigma Delta Chi.
In 1963, Trimble was appointed editor of the Kentucky Post in Covington, Ky., where he ran a bright,
crusading newspaper for two decades.
He turned author in 1970, first publishing “The
Uncertain Miracle” on hyperbaric medicine. He has
since written 14 books, and several e-books, the most
recent, “To Kidnap Bing Crosby’s Bride” published
last year.
Together the Trimbles traveled the world by car, by
plane, by ship, tightening the bonds which held them
with a lifetime of shared experiences and memories.
In 1974, Trimble was inducted into the Oklahoma
Journalism Hall of Fame. His papers are in the Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma
and at Ohio University.
When Trimble’s wife died in 1999, Trimble brought
her back to Wewoka to be buried beside her mother.
He sold their home in Kentucky and moved to
Wewoka to be near his wife, taking his lunch at the
cemetery on many days.
He later built a handsome electronic “singing
tower” in Oakwood Cemetery as a memorial to his
beloved wife.
12
Deciding which anti-virus software to put on your computer
Computer Notes
from the road
by Wilma Melot
[email protected]
Anti-virus software can be expensive
to maintain, but if your computer gets
infected and you don’t have it, you’ll
pay more to have it removed.
With that in mind, here’s some ways
to defend your system as well as what
to do if you have a virus.
All anti-virus programs have security holes, which means sooner or later
you may end up with an intruder on
your computer.
Once you know your security has
been breached there are some obvious
steps to take to protect yourself, but
you may not think of them in the heat
of battle.
Most Trojans, malware that can
cause a lot of damage, are looking for
passwords and credit card information.
If your computer is hacked, the first
thing to do is to change your passwords.
Start with the auto login password to
your website, then change your email
password.
Next go to websites where you use
your credit cards, such as Amazon, and
change your password. Then remove
your credit card information until the
problem is resolved.
Check your credit card billing to
make sure your account hasn’t been
compromised – and keep checking for
a few months after the attack.
Don’t forget to change your bank
account login password. Give your
bank a call to let them know you were
hacked and ask them to put a watch on
your accounts.
Now that your information is secure,
you can start removing the malware
from your computer. Since we know
that your current anti-virus is not catching the troublemaker, you’re going to
need a different program.
If you have the Norton Bootable
Recovery Tool, try booting from that.
You can also try downloading it to
another computer and then copying it
to the infected computer.
There are some good download solutions such as Malwarebites or Webroot,
the current leader in anti-virus software. The trouble with these download
solutions is that the virus often blocks
the download. A workaround is booting
in safe mode with networking (F8 on
most PCs) and then downloading and
running the program from that login. If
that fails there aren’t a lot of options left
but all hope is not lost.
If you’re unwilling or don’t have time
to take your computer in for service
where a tech can clean it for you, there
are programs that work from a USB
flash drive.
The highest recommend one is FixMeStick. It’s what many techs use to
fix computers. This device runs Linux
when it boots your computer so it can
work on the Windows system without
Windows working at all. It’s not perfect
but if nothing else works it may do the
trick. It can only quarantine files that
are affected so your real anti-virus may
have to do the final clean up. FixMeStick retails for $59.99 and is available
at Amazon, Sears or at http://store.
fixmestick.com/buy. You can use the
FixMeStick an unlimited number of
times on up to three different PCs each
month. It’s good for a year and then
must be recharged.
The top antivirus programs
this year are Webroot, Kaspersky,
Norton and Malwarebites.
WebRoot was
rewritten
this
year and takes top
honors in online
reviews. This software works differently than many other anti-virus programs.
Its cloud-based updates are always live
and it has better firewall control. Once
installed on your computer, WebRoot
controls the show without you needing
to do anything but let it run.
It can scan your entire computer in
about 10 minutes, beating most others on this score. However, the user
interface is limited. You have little control over what it does or how it scans.
But other than this drawback it is this
year’s best defender against computer
attacks.
Another great thing about this program is that you can put the three- or
five-copy versions on a Mac and PC
and your iPhone/iPad or Android tablet/phone. It uses encrypted software
to keep your passwords in the cloud
but even WebRoot’s site says this may
not be 100 percent secure. I wouldn’t
be a heavy user of their cloud based
services.
While it’s great for new, clean systems, it’s not my first choice for older
systems that may already have viruses
on them since it’s not the best at cleaning up existing problems.
But if you’re looking for anti-virus
software to take care of all your devices
for one low price – and your devices
are fairly clean – this is the software to
look at.
My next best anti-virus software
packages are from Kaspersky, Norton and Malwarebytes. All have been
around for a while and do a good job at
keeping invaders out. These programs
that cost money are worth the price
and do a lot more than the free ones.
For free anti-virus protection, AVG is
the winner in my book. It was top rated
this year in most online reviews.
Another free one that works directly
with Windows software is Microsoft
Security Essentials. You can run it sideby-side with other anti-virus products
for extra protection. It’s actually just an
extension of your Windows software.
Even the best anti-virus software
can’t stop every infestation. Just this
year I’ve seen viruses defeat every one
of these programs. That’s why I caution
you not to save passwords when your
computer asks you if you want to save
them. It’s better to put your password
in every time. I know it’s not convenient but viruses are getting smarter,
which means we need to be smarter
about how we use our computers.
That leads me to one final tip. Use
your credit card, not a debit card, for
online purchases so you have some
recourse if you’re hacked. And don’t
leave that credit card number stored on
websites. They all get hacked sooner or
later. In the last two years Google and
Yahoo were both hacked.
HOW TO MAKE PHOTOSHOP RUN
BETTER ON YOUR COMPUTER
I’m teaching a Photoshop workshop
in a couple of weeks (Thurs., Aug. 1)
so I thought it was a good time to share
some tips on getting Photoshop to run
better on your computer.
Many of you run this big, powerful
program on computers with 1GB or
less of RAM. Even older versions of
Photoshop bog down with low RAM.
Here are some ideas for you to try to
get Photoshop to boot faster and run
better.
First, make sure Photoshop has a
scratch drive with lots of disk space –
you can use multiple drives. Look under
Preferences > Performance > scratch disk.
On older versions it may just be scratch
disk under Preferences.
Next, turn off all Web related items
such as allowing plug-ins to connect
to the Internet. Turn off Show CS
live in the applications bar. Turn off
the auto login to Bridge. Then go to
Windows and deselect the applications
bar. If your RAM is low, running two
programs at the same time will slow
you down. Once again it is under Preferences > General> Automatically Launch
Bridge.
You can also tell history to stop making copies of the file as you work. History is how many times you can step
back in time and each history grows
the file size. Trim it down to 5 or 10 and
see if that improves performance. It’s
located under Preferences > performance.
Don’t forget to close other programs,
especially web and layout programs,
while you work on photos. Instead of
having lots of files open in Photoshop,
open one photo at a time to get the best
performance.
If it’s still slow, open the photo and
change the file size to a smaller size,
then save and work the photo.
Turning off image previews will also
increase speed but I know many of you
like previews. If you want to turn it off,
it’s under Preferences > File Handling >
Image Previews.
These tips should keep the program
lean and moving faster on your computer. Don’t forget to restart Photoshop
after making preference changes.
If your computer has lots of RAM,
increase the amount Photoshop uses
under Preferences > performance. Make
sure you understand what the numbers
mean and how far you can go. On a
Mac find out how much RAM you have
under Apple > About this Mac. On a PC,
right click on the Computer word in the
start menu and go to properties, or go
to My Computer and do it there.
OPA Computer Consultant Wilma Melot’s column is
brought to you by the Oklahoma Advertising Network
(OAN). For more information on the OAN program,
contact Oklahoma Press Service at (405) 499-0020.
DEATHS
DON GRAHAM,
former press foreman
and circulation director at the Holdenville Daily News, died June 14, 2013.
He was 67.
Graham was born in Richmond,
Calif., on Nov. 24, 1945. His family moved to Holdenville when he was
three months after his birth.
A 1966 graduate of Holdenville High
School, Graham met his wife, Gwendylyn Jones, in 1969.
He spent 30 years at the Holdenville
Daily News as press foreman and circulation manager and was inducted into
the OPA Quarter Century Club in 2009.
Graham also worked at the Grand
Theater in high school, and the Wewoka
Theater and owned the Holdenville
Theater in the 1990s.
He was a founding member of the
Holdenville CB Club in the 1970s and
went by the handle ‘Lil Abner. He
enjoyed camping, canoeing the Illinois
River, fishing, attending music festi-
vals, playing computer card games and
dominos.
Graham is survived by his wife,
Gwen, of the home; daughter and
son-in-law Dawnyal and Jeffrey Hill of
Holdenville; sons Dustin Graham of
Moore, and Jeremy Graham of Tulsa;
brother and sister-in-law Bruce and
Betsey Graham, of Little Elm, Texas;
five grandchildren; and multiple nieces
and nephews.
NATHAN LEE HUTCHESON,
a former
newspaper carrier for the Tulsa World
and carrier for the New York Times,
died July 2, 2013. He was 51.
Nathan graduated from Chelsea
High School in 1980, and Northeastern
State University with a degree in computer programming in 1984.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Billie Robinson Hutcheson and
Kathryn Elizabeth Hutcheson.
He is survived by his sister, L. Sue
Hutcheson of Chelsea; brother Andy R.
Hutcheson of Chelsea; aunt Delma Hetzel Mongold Hinkle of Morefield, W.V.;
numerous cousins and other extended
family.
LINDA ANN SIGLER,
former production manager at The Daily Ardmoreite,
died July 5, 2013. She was 64.
Sigler was born March 8, 1949, in
Ardmore. After graduating from Ardmore High School, she attended Southeastern State University in Durant. She
moved to Dallas and then Sherman,
Texas, working for a newspaper advertising company before returning to
Ardmore.
Sigler went to work for The Daily
Ardmoreite in 1984 as a graphic artist,
and was promoted to graphic supervi-
sor and then to production manager.
She worked there until 2009.
She is survived by her husband,
Guy H. (Buddy) Sigler; sons Mathew
II and John J. (J.J.) Sigler; sisters Carol
Caroleton, Vi Freeman and Crystal Kixmiller; and four grandchildren.
MILDRED LADNER THOMPSON,
Street Journal’s Washington D.C.
bureau, where she was the only woman
on the staff at the time. She covered
the Truman White House, aviation and
transportation.
While at the Journal she and other
members of the press were invited to
witness the fateful only flight of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose.
It was in D.C. where Mildred met
her first husband, John Ladner, a Navy
commander from Tulsa.
The two moved to Tulsa after they
were wed.
She joined the World staff in the
mid-1970s as a book editor, overseeing reviews and interviewing visiting
writers.
She was also heavily involved in the
Tulsa Press Club.
She wrote for various local organizations, including the Tulsa Ballet and
Tulsa Boys home.
She retired to Florida in 1995 with
her second husband, T.K. Thompson.
She is survived by two daughters,
Mary Pat Robertson and Helen Ladner; a son, Edward Ladner of Tulsa;
one grandchild; and four step-grandchildren.
a
former writer and columnist for the
Tulsa World, Associated Press and Wall
Street Journal, died June 25, 2013, in
Sarasota, Fla. She was 95.
Ladner was born in Allentown, Pa.,
where her newspaper career began.
She received a bachelor’s degree from
Moravian College and then earned a
master’s in journalism from the University of Wisconsin.
From Wisconsin, Mildren was hired
by the AP’s Philadelphia bureau.
She was then hired by the Wall
In memory of our Friends and Colleagues
Charles Wesley Abbott, June 5, 2011
Julianna ‘Julie’ Arrowood, July 29, 2011
Leticia Rutledge Holladay, June 25, 2011 Oscar Tolliver ‘O.T.’ Brooks, July 26, 2011
Phillip Thomas Cowan, June 28, 2012
Earl Reeves, July 4, 2011
Ann DeFrange, June 10, 2012
Dave Sclair, July 26, 2011
Mark Hutchison, June 6, 2012
Delmer Durwood ‘Jack’ Stone,
Fred Gordon Turner, June 15, 2012
July 16, 2011
Lloyd Thomas Clawson, July 24, 2012
Deanna Kay Foster, July 25, 2012
Omer Gillham, July 9, 2012
Jesse Ray Turner, July 10, 2012
13
Donate
to ONF
A donation to the
Oklahoma Newspaper
Foundation will support
its efforts to improve the
state’s newspaper industry
and quality of journalism.
ONF’s programs include
training and education for
professional journalists,
scholarship and internship
programs for journalism
students, and Newspaper in
Education efforts.
ONF relies on donations
and memorial contributions
to fund these programs.
If you would like to make
a donation, please send a
check to:
OKLAHOMA
NEWSPAPER
FOUNDATION
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
14
Modern journalists must be versatile
Clark’s Critique
by Terry Clark
Journalism Professor,
University of Central Oklahoma,
[email protected]
“You need a ‘Batman belt’ to be a
journalist,” Dave Rhea of The Journal
Record told my students this year.
Even though the context was my
new “Twitter for Journalists” class, he
was specifically talking about journalists having a lot of different skills, not
just about technology. They need to be
versatile, able to get the story out in
several ways.
He describes Twitter as part of
the “disruptive technology” that has
changed almost all industries in the
past few years, but none more so than
journalism.
Geezers like myself sometimes overlook that journalism has always been
a child of technology. I’ve had to try
to educate myself on this newfangled
stuff, especially since working journalists like Dave and others advised us
academics that our students need to be
adept at it.
In teaching the class — two weeks
of six hours a day, with all sorts of
majors in it — I’ve relied on bringing in
professionals in all fields, and we have
learned much.
I’ll admit, as someone near the end
of a career, I don’t need or use Twitter
much other than to promote my blog,
but I’m convinced anyone involved in
journalism needs to know about it.
So what follows are some brief — in
keeping with the briefness of Twitter —
pointers from my speakers.
• Almost every major news story in
the past few years has been broken
on Twitter.
• Twitter has almost become a new
wire service.
• It’s especially valuable in local news,
if you have a strong list of followers
who can keep you updated.
• It’s a fast way to get news, but you
always need to verify.
• Rather than harm writing, it ought to
help it, by making you value every
word.
• It’s more a conversation than Facebook. Facebook has a longer “shelf
life.”
• Twitter is the New Age paper boy.
For great story ideas, look at other Oklahoma newspapers. This month’s featured papers include Taloga Times-Advocate, The
Paper (Pryor), Tulsa Business & Legal News, Broken Arrow Ledger, Kiowa County Democrat, Choctaw Times, The Hughes County
Times and Minco-Union City Times.
• Don’t write anything on Twitter, or
your blog, you wouldn’t want your
grandmother to read.
• There is nothing off the record with
a room full of people, and Twitter.
• Media isn’t dying, just the old profit
margins.
• Having 140 characters is no excuse
for being incomplete.
• With Twitter you have an entire network of sources to choose from.
• Someone always knows someone
who is the source I need.
• Twitter works best in breaking news
when mainstream media can’t yet
assemble all the facts.
• It can be a living, breathing tip sheet
for facts, sources and story ideas.
• Social media blurs the lines between
personal and professional.
• Twitter is not ruining journalism.
• It’s still about content.
• Twitter is like any other tool. Do
something useful, and it’s useful.
In addition to Dave @jdaverhea, my
other guest speakers include Mike
Sherman @MikeSherman, sports editor for The Oklahoman; freelancer and
former community journalist Heide
Brandes @HeideWrite; broadcast veteran and UCO colleague Desiree Hill
@dezhill; Good Egg media guru Sheri
Guyse @MyJrny; and HR maven Jessica Merrill @blogging4jobs. I’m at
@okieprof on Twitter. Follow us all,
if you wish. I’d be glad to reciprocate. Merrill has written a book that
is invaluable, Tweet This — Twitter for
Business.
Four more items.
There are many tutorials for Twitter
on YouTube if you need advice. I also
use Twitter for Dummies.
The Oklahoman’s sports headlines
are an example of successful tweeting.
Sherman has a huge list of fans who
tweet him suggestions for headlines on
games. The Oke takes them, edits and
revises, but it is reader interaction and
citizen journalism at its best.
Twitter is essential. All the speakers said they wouldn’t hire people who
couldn’t use Twitter professionally.
Continued on Page 15
15
Standing requires plaintiff to have a stake in the suit
Legal Notes
by Michael Minnis
OPA Attorney
“Our authority begins and ends
with the need to adjudge the rights
of an injured party who stands before
us seeking redress.”
Three recent appellate decisions
focused on one simple question: does
the Plaintiff/Appellant have standing?
“Standing” and the related requirement
of an actual controversy derive from
English Common Law codified in the
Constitution under Article III.
“Standing” is the requirement that
a plaintiff must show that the plaintiff
has a dog in the fight, that is, that the
plaintiff or appellant will suffer harm if
relief is not granted.
Two of the “standing” cases were
decided by the Supreme Court. In the
first (U.S. v. Windsor), the Court held
that a paragraph in the federal law
defining “marriage” was unconstitutional even though — as the dissenters
noted — the Plaintiff had no standing
because plaintiff prevailed below and
all parties (the president refused to
defend the law) were asking that the
decision below be affirmed, i.e., no
party stood to suffer harm if the judgment below was left alone.
In the second (Hollingsworth v.
Perry), the court dismissed an appeal
of a decision negating a state-wide
referendum. As with the Windsor case,
the executive (governor) refused to
defend the law. The supporters of the
referendum were allowed to intervene,
but found to have no standing. Because
the supporters were found to have no
“standing”, the merits of the case were
never addressed and the appeal was
dismissed.
In the third case (Rabin v. BRTA)
the District Court said that the general
public had no claimed interest in or
would be affected by an Open Meeting
Act (OMA) violation and thus had “no
standing” to challenge the validity of
a public body’s executive session. In
reversing the judgment, the Court of
Appeals (COA) held that the plaintiffs,
as members of the public, had a right
to attend public meetings and thus
would be harmed if denied access to
an improperly held executive session.
The COA also held that OMA created a
private cause of action.
Absent recognition of the requirements for “standing” and the existence
of an “actual controversy,” courts would
be free to rule on anything that caught
their fancy.
recently brought fancy new recycling
containers to my house and every other
one for every other week pickup. Same
thing happened in Stillwater, reports
Chris Day of Stillwater NewsPress.
I’ve yet to see a story, though, on
how much this is costing the city, and
who got the contract, and for how
much. Just wondering….
Flushing out the kinks.
Clark’s Critique Continued from Page 14
LOOKIN’EM OVER.
Summertime and
Oklahoma newspapers are full of stories about heat, drought, crops and
water — too much or not enough. Here
are some ideas if you need some.
Water: Amie Remer at Vian Tenkiller
News writes, “How safe is your water?”
Ken Milam at Poteau Daily News
reports mercury levels on area lakes.
Kiowa County Democrat reports,
“Water level at Steed continues to
drop.”
John Wylie II at Oologah Lake Leader
reports about the lake, “Fish safe to
eat?”
Carmen Bourlon at The Shawnee
News-Star reported on the Supreme
Court decision between Texas and
Oklahoma, “Water Rights.”
G.B. Poindexter at Broken Arrow
Ledger wrote about the city water being
ADMINISTRATION
MARK THOMAS
Executive Vice President
[email protected]
(405) 499-0033
ROBERT WALLAR
Accounting Manager
[email protected]
(405) 499-0027
SCOTT WILKERSON
Front Office/Building Mgr.
[email protected]
(405) 499-0020
contaminated, “Water emergency
issued Tuesday.”
Heat: Karen Anson at The Wewoka
Times reports, “Elderly, young at risk
in heat.”
Storms: Barbara Anderson at The
Tribune in Bethany reports, “Spike in
storm shelters.” I know my neighbor
just had one put in his garage. Workers
are backed up to September, doing at
least four a day.
Mike Brown at Stroud American
remembers the 1973 tornado.
Fines: Carolyn Cole at Mustang
News details how the city is raising
fines on everything, “Infractions more
expensive.”
Post offices: Cherokee Messenger
& Republican reports the Burlington
office is cutting hours.
Recycling: The City of Edmond
MEMBER
SERVICES
LISA POTTS
Member Services
Director
[email protected]
(405) 499-0026
ELI NICHOLS
Member Services
Coordinator
[email protected]
(405) 499-0040
HEAD’EM UP AWARDS:
First place,
Heavener Ledger, on a flooding story:
Mother Nature Came Knocking.
Second place, Tulsa Business & Legal
News, on a Brian Ervin story about finding jobs for veterans:
Swords into plowshares
Third place, tie, The Ardmoreite, on
a Michael Pineda story about a town’s
water system:
OPA STAFF DIRECTORY
ADVERTISING
CINDY SHEA
Media Manager
[email protected]
(405) 499-0023
LANDON COBB
Account Executive
[email protected]
(405) 499-0022
COURTNI SPOON
Advertising Assistant &
OCAN/2X2 Contact
[email protected]
(405) 499-0035
CREATIVE
SERVICES
COMPUTER
ADVICE
JENNIFER GILLILAND
WILMA MELOT
Creative Services Director
[email protected]
(405) 499-0028
Computer Consultant
[email protected]
(405) 499-0031
MORGAN BROWNE
POSTAL
ADVICE
Creative Assistant
[email protected]
(405) 499-0029
JOHN McCANN
Postal Consultant
[email protected]
(405) 499-0020
And The Comanche Times, on a story
about a church benevolent center:
One stop praying and shopping
Honorable mentions: OKC Friday,
“Disney’s Tarzan swings on to Lyric
stage”; The Wynnewood Gazette, on a
story about a store reopening from
storm damage, “And on the eighth
day”; Choctaw Times, “Delivered from
danger”; The Ellis County Capital, and
The Gage Record, on the weather, “A
May to Remember”; The Garvin County
News Star, on a Bonnie Seymour story,
“School board meeting gets hot”; The
Canton Times, on a Betty Geis story,
“A father’s responsibility”; and Oologah
Lake Leader, on a Chris Edens story,
“Fletcher soars to Eagle Scout”.
OPEN
(DIGITAL CLIPPING)
KEITH BURGIN
OPEN Manager
[email protected]
(405) 499-0024
KYLE GRANT
Digital Clipping Dept.
[email protected]
(405) 499-0032
OPEN (CONT’D)
CRYSTAL FOREMAN
[email protected]
(405) 499-0030
JENNIFER
BEATLEY-CATES
[email protected]
(405) 499-0030
GENERAL INQUIRIES
(405) 499-0020 • Fax: (405) 499-0048
Toll-free in OK: 1-888-815-2672
16
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE APRIL & MAY 2013 CONTEST WINNERS
APRIL 2013 WINNERS:
MAY 2013 WINNERS:
Column: JOSH BURTON
Owasso Reporter
Column: TRUDY HART
The Guymon Daily Herald
Editorial: JOHN M. WYLIE, II
Oologah Lake Leader
Editorial: KIM POINDEXTER
Tahlequah Daily Press
EXCERPTS FROM APRIL 2013 COLUMN WINNER
JOSH BURTON, OWASSO REPORTER
April 19 changed my life forever
I will always remember April 19,
1995, as a day that changed my life.
I was a junior in high school and
remember hearing about the bombing after lunch, when a classmate
of mine kept saying an Oklahoma
City radio station was knocked off
the air after a bomb threat had been
called in to the building where the
station was housed.
She then said she heard from
another station that the Alfred R.
Murrah Federal Building had been
blown up.
To be truthful, I’d never heard
of nor seen the building. It was the
first time I can remember an event
capturing the lives of so many.
My dad said he will always
remember the day John F. Kennedy was shot. Well, this was one of
those moments for my generation.
It really made me realize how
vulnerable people can be to things.
Up until that point, I never really
EXCERPTS FROM MAY 2013 COLUMN WINNER
TRUDY HART, THE GUYMON DAILY HERALD
Remembering those that I never knew
As an American, I have always
considered myself a sucker for a
sentimental story of a soldier who
made the ultimate sacrifice for his
country.
As a writer, I, myself, get to write
those stories. I put a lot into such a
powerful story, which I would hope
could be a tribute to the individual I
am writing about.
I get so involved in the writing,
that I go to the extreme of finding
as much about that individual as I
can to get to a point where I feel
like I knew that person myself.
This is my second time to do a
Memorial Day story honoring a
fallen soldier, and for the second
time, I feel like I accomplished that
goal.
I asked so many questions,
researched, and saw so many photos and videos of Josh Pearce, that
for the day, while writing that story,
thought about domestic or international terrorism or anything like
that. This event really made me
think about that in a different way.
I remember how I too went
through the five stages they talk
about for recover y. I remember most distinctly, being angry
because someone could have the
nerve to set up a truck as a bomb,
then ignite it and destroy a building.
Once that subsided, I soon coped
with that realization that it actually
happened. You expected something
like that to happen maybe in a
larger city, but never something of
that magnitude...
I felt like I knew him myself. I could
hear his laugh in my mind while I
was gathering memories from his
friends as they shared their stories
of pastimes with him, and I could
see his smile as they shared stories
of his orneriness.
No, I never met him, but I felt
a connection to him through the
story. It seems as though he is
the exact type of person I would
be friends with. He had a passion
for living, and for his country. In
all those stories shared with me,
nobody talked about the way he
died. They all talked about the way
that he did indeed LIVE...
The April & May 2013 contests
were judged by members of the
Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame
Enter and Win a
$100 Check from ONG!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Each month, send a tear sheet or
photocopy of your best column and/
or editorial to ONG Contest, c/o OPA,
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City,
OK 73105-5499.
Include the author’s name, name of
publication, date of publication and
category entered (column or editorial).
Only ONE editorial and/or ONE
column per writer per month will be
accepted.
All entries for the previous month must
be at the OPA office by the 15th of the
current month.
Winning entries will be reproduced
on the OPA website at www.OkPress.
com.
Entries must have been previously
published. Contest open to
all OPA member newspapers.
Although Oklahoma Natural Gas Company
selects representative contest winners’ work
for use in this monthly ad, the views expressed
in winning columns and editorials are those
of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect the
Company’s opinions.
Thank you for continued support of “Share The Warmth”
Read the Winning Columns and Editorials on the OPA website: www.OkPress.com (Under Contests)

July 2013 Oklahoma Publisher

Transcription

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